InsideLotus - Lotus, Portal and Social Collaborative Software

I missed this interview earlier, but was alerted to it via an internal newsletter from Collaborative User Research in Cambridge. The article offers an interesting perspective about Notes, Sametime, and future social networking efforts. For example, she says, "Lotus Notes was conceived from the beginning as an integrated collaborative environment - not just email." While we need to do email really well and we do, the differentiator for Notes is and always has been the ability to pull together and automate a wide variety of applications that require human interaction, whether it's a simple discussion db, a help desk, or an expense reporting processing application. You can build applications that work the way people work.

Instant messaging and web conferences are the next tools to get added to the mix, with Lotus first to market with business grade IM with Lotus Sametime. I remember where research did a study early on about "prairie dogging" - this is phenomenon I saw quite a bit in our cube farms in support, before Sametime existed. You had a question, you pop your head up over the cube and ask your neighbor. They pop their head up, or someone else overhears it and pops their head up to answer. I love that visual! (Prairie dogs live in the North American plains and you see them sitting on their hind legs, nose in the air, checking for predators.) Now that Sametime 7.5 is out, I expect to see a lot of innovation on this platform in 2007, from Lotus and third parties, for example - integrated workflow, as in this Lotus Award winner: Imixs GmbH; or from Instant Technologies, a way to queue instant messages to awaiting reps.

Ms. Greif also talks about where Activity Explorer came from, which can be seen as a natural extension of her original work in computer supported cooperative work. If you've ever designed an application to support some business process, you see that there's the process, the way it's written down, and the process that everyone follows in practice. One thing that systems haven't been good at capturing is all the collaboration that occurs while process tasks are being completed. This has been discussed before many times. Certainly, being able to capture ad hoc activity within a more formal process is a good thing because it lets the organization understand what patterns are being used in real life vs. the defined process. We've been using a new version of Activities internally for quite awhile and it is easier to manage some things that way, when you don't have a formal teamroom to collaborate in, or you are crossing organizational boundaries. If what you know is Activity Explorer as released in the Workplace Managed Client, wait until you see this new one at Lotusphere and within Notes 8 itself.

I'll let you read the rest of the interview, which covers social networking and future innovations in the lab. One thing the research teams do really well is to connect their pure research to real business problems that people have -> and then connect those into new products or new features in products. You might not see it in products for a few years, but you can get a glimpse of the future by what they are studying now. See Remail for some Notes features you see today and coming in Notes 8.

With Microsoft Vista released and Redmond pushing much publicity around their new OS, one would think interoperability with other new Microsoft applications would be tested. WRONG. Vista is unable to run Microsoft's latest version of SQL. The software company has been widely known for a "rip and replace" strategy because of the lack of backwards capability. Now they have to rely on older technology to work with newer technology. If Microsoft is serious about competing with IBM and Oracle in the database space, you would think some level of interoperability test with Vista would of been on the radar. WRONG. One would also think that Microsoft would be provide the first database application for Vista. WRONG. Not to my surprise, IBM has already released DB2 9 Express-C that is Vista capatable.

I hope everyone has a happy holiday, even the Microsoft developers now working hard to save face on Vista and SQL

Part of what I do is manage the Sametime design team and we're busily thinking about future versions (and getting ready for Lotusphere). One of my team members has an internal blog and she posted this query recently. I thought it would be good to generate some discussion "on the outside" too.

Think back to a meeting you attended that you felt was really successful; what made it so? Some possibilities:

the moderator was really prepared, and made it go smoothly

everything needed for the meeting was available to everyone

the tools needed to accomplish your goals were readily available

it ended ahead-of time

In addition to what made it work well, I'd be curious to know how many people were there.

For a long time, I've wanted to configure my laptop for a duel boot of Windows and Linux. I have little Linux experience so I've been hesitant to install. I was also afraid I might mess up my laptop and end up losing all sorts of data. Luckily, last month I received a new T60p laptop. With no data and just the standard IBM image, I decided now was the time to setup the duel boot. After about 3 hours, I had Windows XP and Linux Red Hat installed and ready to take the plunge with the . It took me a day or two to remember or lookup some of the common commands and navigation around Linux. I was also excited to see all of my favorite IBM software applications were supported on Linux. I'm still learning but enjoy an alternative OS to explore the freedom of open source.

By the way, this is my first blog entry using the Domino 7.0.2 blog template and I am using Lotus Notes on Linux.

The Domino Server team blog has a good posting about the future enhancements to Domino 8 - the companion server to Notes 8, of course. If I may quote, so there is no mistake or FUD about requirements for running the server:

"Domino 8 is 100% Domino - no 'ifs' or 'buts'. It will run all yourexisting Domino applications and email. It is a regular in-lineupgrade from earlier releases - no rip-and-replace of servers isrequired. Domino 8 has no hidden prerequisites or new requirements foryou to install (IBM WebSphere Application Server, IBM WebSphere PortalServer, and IBM DB2 are all optional extras you can chose to deploy).Nor does it require that you deploy any of our collaboration productssuch as Lotus Sametime, Lotus Quickplace, or Activities. We willcontinue to integrate well with these products to add value to yourcomplete collaborative application environment."

Certainly, if you want more capability, such as Sametime, you'll have to have a Sametime server. That seems obvious to me. Activities does require WAS to run, but that IS optional. Besides, Activities is basically a pure Web 2.0 app that can be used in lots of different contexts, both with Notes and standalone.

I was watching some local sports show the other night and they were covering the Major League Baseball winter meetings, a gathering of GMs and agents, being held at - you guessed it - Walt Disney's Swan and Dolphin Resort. It was weird seeing the pink and sea green carpet/walls lurking behind the reporters. And thinking about all those people in MY lobby, by MY fountain, making deals in MY suites with the foldup beds, and catching up in the lobby bar - it's...it's NOT RIGHT! Well, we'll be there soon enough (6 weeks or so). Maybe the Red Sox will have a closer by then.

On another note, Mary Beth Raven and I are presenting together at Lotusphere on Monday afternoon. Here's are official session info:ID102 Designing a World-Class User Experience for IBM Lotus NotesThe promise of Lotus Notes 8, the next version of Lotus Notes, is that it will deliver a world class user experience in mail, calendar, and contact management, and new capabilities such as activity management and composite applications. But how do you turn a vision statement into designs, plans, and product? Come learn how the design team and the lead designer approached this transformation. Learn about the guiding principles we used, as we explain the decisions behind the features and style you see in the product today.

My question to you, is this: What do you want to understand about this topic? We have some ideas, of course, but I'd be curious to find out what your expectations are. Don't be shy. And don't think you have to be going to Lotusphere to respond.

Thanks to all who voted my BoF session at Lotusphere next quarter. I'm excited to discuss and get feedback on how users feel about social bookmarking. I've been working with social bookmarking at IBM for quite some time and believe there is real value in sharing bookmarks. More to come.

I hadn't listened to this one that I can recall, which is kind of strange, considering the record was one of the seminal recordings in Jazz, introducing Brazilian music to the American audience. I was more familiar with the Getz/Gilberto recording, of similar ilk and had played Desafinado and One Note Samba before. But I saw this at the library recently and checked it out - Jazz Samba - with Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd. I've been listening to it on my commute the last couple of days and it's so smooth that you almost, and I repeat, almost, are unaware of the immense talent and precision in the music. It just sounds easy.

The track that really made me turn my head was Bahia. Maybe it was the 2 basses cranking out the rhythm, then moving to a bow for the Getz solo at the beginning. Once they get going, it's pretty wide open, leaving lots of room for the soloists to ramble over the bass ostinato.

Bonus tip: Duke Ellington and Ray Brown - This One's for Blanton. Also found at the library - when I first heard it on the headphones, I felt like I was in the room, the piano was so alive. Good chance to hear Duke's piano playing.